Whatever Happened to the Moon Knight TV Show?

In 2006, Marvel made a big deal about developing a TV series based on one of their properties, Moon Knight. The idea was to partner up with Vancouver-based No Equal Entertainment and Larry Sugar to make the live-action comic book TV series, about a vigilante superhero (think Batman, except with an all-white costume instead of Bat’s dark overalls) who goes around throwing, from what I can recall, moon-shaped shurikens at people. I believe he also had a French butler name Frenchie (I’m not making this up) who fought crime alongside him, or some such. Look, it wasn’t exactly the best comic book out there, and I only picked up an issue or two whenever the Punisher made a cameo, cause back in the day, the Punisher was “all that”, as the kids would say.

Here’s Marvel’s explanation of the character to the masses:

First introduced by Marvel Comics in the mid-1970s, Moon Knight remains a true fan favorite as evidenced by the current best-selling comic book series featuring the Super Hero. Moon Knight presents the story of soldier of fortune Marc Spector. After an encounter with the Egyptian god of vengeance and the moon deity Konshu, he became a hero: Moon Knight. The encounter leaves the tormented Spector with even more inner demons to combat. Now as Moon Knight, he hunts criminals in the night, bringing them to justice, and striking fear in the hearts of criminals everywhere. Moon Knight’s blend of action, the supernatural, and complex, intriguing characters will serve as the foundation for the live-action series.

Well that was in 2006. Flash-forward to 2009, and here’s what we know about the would-be series so far: apparently Moon Knight was being hinted at as a companion comic book show to Spike TV’s recently canceled Blade: The TV Series, and at one point producer David Goyer even said that they planned to introduce the character in that series with an eye toward spinning him off into his own series.

[The civilian alter ego of Moon Knight] Marc Spector’s name is briefly mentioned in the pilot episode of Blade: The Series (starring Kirk Jones). Spector is described as an expert in werewolves. Marc is also said to be a colleague of Professor Melvin Caylo, a specialist in vampires. The character of Spector did not appear in the series before it was cancelled.

As recently as 2008, writer Jon Cooksey (“The Collector”, “So Weird”) has confirmed to a fan via the message board The Java Hut that he is, indeed, currently “developing” a Moon Knight TV show as we speak. Here are the relevant sections of his email:

…The 3 series I’m developing now, one based on the Marvel comic ‘Moon Knight’, are all action/adventure with humor and romance mixed in, and all of them touch on deeper themes about heroism, love, and making our troubled world a better place. Still being in development, of course, none of them show up on my resume yet, so I understand that what you see would give you pause!

So there you have it, the quickly growing cold trail of mercenary turned vigilante Marc Spector and his Frenchie butler. The good news is that Marvel has since revitalized the character with an all-new ongoing series, and people seem to love the new, more complicated, and much, much, much more musclebound Moon Knight. Maybe this will jump start production on the TV show, who knows?

Below: Moon Knight’s latest comic book incarnation has him playing a homeless man who fights crime with his tricked out shopping cart full of empty cans.